5 Days
by Azura Nyx
Summary: The unusual and gradual development of friendship between Drs. Radek Zelenka and Elizabeth Weir.
1. Chapter 1

**5 Days**

**_Chapter 1_**

Day 1

It hadn't been the best of days for Dr. Elizabeth Weir. Everything had seemed to go wrong from the time she woke up, and events were not looking on the bright side later that day either. One of the main issues of concern was the fact that John is now in the infirmary since he was injured off world and, although he was receiving good medical treatment from Dr. Carson Beckett, he was tattered up pretty badly: more specifically, he had 2 broken ribs, a black eye and a minor head wound. Carson had already informed Elizabeth that John should be off duty for at least a month and a half. This news had greatly disappointed her. John is one of the best military officers and, as she viewed it, she had just lost a month and a half's worth of his excellent military tactics. It was barely acceptable! The wraith are just becoming aware of their presence on Atlantis and want to use them as their food supply, yet Major Sheppard, one of the best military officers around, gets severely injured. _Just great,_ Dr. Weir sardonically thought to herself.

There was another issue bothering Dr. Weir, and that was the fact she had to interview a Czech engineer by the name of_…how do you say it? Zelandka? No, that's not right,_ Elizabeth silently reflected. She only hoped this man was cooperative and unlike Dr. Rodney McKay or Peter Kavanagh: those two seemed to give her a lot of trouble. However, Elizabeth did agree they were intelligent and well suited for their jobs. There was no doubt about that, but Dr. Weir had merely wanted someone who would be fairly high up in status on the tech team and lacked such characteristics as arrogance or uncooperativeness for a change.

Dr. Weir sat in the interview room, tapping her pencil in a rhythmic fashion. Soon enough, however, Dr. Radek Zelenka: the Czech engineer, walked into the room. He sat down in the chair which was on the opposite side of the table facing Elizabeth. Dr. Zelenka was a little nervous, but not overwhelmingly so. It was nothing he couldn't handle, and it most certainly wasn't his first job interview. Still, one would have to admit: the possibility of working on a planet in a galaxy far away was a little unnerving. Not unpleasant, mind you, just… a tad unsettling.

"Forgive me if I mispronounce your name," Dr. Weir began. "It's Dr. Radek Zelenka, correct?"

"Yes, you got pronunciation right," Dr. Zelenka replied. Radek did quite well with his English, but he wasn't entirely great. The tinge of nervousness could have something to do with it, however.

"I have looked over your files while I was waiting for you, and I must say: I am impressed." Dr. Zelenka gave a slight grin at this statement. Elizabeth continued by saying, "You've had experience with all sorts of technology, I see. Also, you taught physics at a university in Prague, Czech Republic. And… you are fluent in 2 languages; Czech and French, although you are quite fluent in English as well."

Radek nodded as he said, "That is correct."

"Why do you feel you are better qualified for this job than the other applicants," Dr. Weir politely inquired.

"I have experience with various technologies. Not just one kind," Dr. Zelenka began. "I also have doctorate in physics and arithmetic."

Elizabeth nodded to Radek in recognition of his words, smiled and answered, "Okay, thank-you very much for your time, Dr. Zelenka!" Dr. Weir rose from her seat and Dr. Zelenka did the same.

"No, thank-_you_ for your time, Dr. Weir."

Dr. Weir shook his hand, and continued by informing Radek, "We will notify you if you have received the job position."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

Day 2

Elizabeth couldn't deny that she was quite impressed with Dr. Zelenka. Out of all the other applicants she interviewed, she believed he was the most feasible choice. After all, Radek was definitely more qualified than the others because most of them only knew one form of technology, whereas he knew various others. Also, as a bonus: Dr. Zelenka appeared to be friendly and cooperative. He didn't appear to be sassy or arrogant by any means. Of course, Dr. Weir also knew it was possible for Radek to seem pleasant in order to obtain the job. But even as she walked back to her quarters there was something insistently nudging at her to hire the brilliant engineer, which Elizabeth did just that.

A few hours after officially hiring Dr. Radek Zelenka, Elizabeth had decided to head down to the mess hall for something to eat. Upon entering the cafeteria, she ran into a fairly interesting conversation.

"I just can't _stand_ the guy! I'm sorry. He's so… weird," Rodney had complained to Lt. Ford while eating lunch with him in the mess hall.

"What guy," Elizabeth perplexedly inquired to Rodney.

"…well, you hired him so-"

"So… what? You think I would be insulted if you told me you didn't like someone I hired?"

"McKay despises Dr. Zelenka," Ford answered Elizabeth.

"Ah! I see," Weir started with a slight grin. "Why, may I ask, do you not care for Dr. Zelenka." Elizabeth took a seat next to Aiden, who was also sitting across from Rodney.

"He is absolutely preposterous! He never listens to a damn word I say, swears at me in…some…language, and claims I'm arrogant for not listening to _him_," Rodney frustratingly replied. Dr. Weir was on the brink of laughing at Rodney's statement and, evidently, Aiden must have been thinking the same thing she was because he looked away to hide the smirk on his face. However, Ford's attempt to hide his grin didn't seem to be effective.

McKay rolled his eyes and said, "Don't tell me this is _my _fault! I was even trying to be cooperative with the guy for a change, but he just doesn't listen."

About 10pm later that evening, Elizabeth decided to check up on Radek in the tech lab. It was his first day, after all, and she wanted to see how everything has been for him so far. Much to Liz's surprise, however, she found Zelenka sleeping in the lab. He was sitting on one of the spinning stools, arms crisscrossed on the table which acted as a pillow for his head, and his glasses laid askew on his face. Dr. Weir didn't want to wake him because Radek appeared exceptionally tired. Also, Liz couldn't deny it: he even looked a little… charming sleeping like that. _Still, he's got to be uncomfortable resting in that position,_ she surmised. Elizabeth tapped Dr. Zelenka on the shoulders, but he didn't budge. So, she tapped him on the shoulders once more, this time a bit harder.

"Wha-," exclaimed Radek as he stood up from the seat in a panic and nearly fell to the floor in the process of doing so. Once he realized who was standing in front of him, he said, "Dr. Weir? I-I am sorry. I had no idea…."

"No, no, no! That's alright, Dr. Zelenka," Elizabeth replied. "I perfectly understand. I initially wasn't going to wake you, but I thought perhaps you would want to be woken up so you could head back to your quarters for some rest."

"Thank-you, doctor. I have more work finish still. I should stay-"

"I wouldn't recommend it, Dr. Zelenka. You seem to need rest," Elizabeth kindly insisted. Radek looked at the floor, kind of lost for words. He really felt as though he needed to stay and work on the project, but he was also extremely tired due to the long ride to Atlantis. "C'mon. I'll walk you back to your quarters."

For a few moments, things were silent between Radek and Elizabeth as they made their way to Radek's dormitory. That is until Dr. Weir decided to speak:

"I was thinking: would you like to join me for a game of chess sometime this week?"

Zelenka looked at her in complete surprise. _Is she asking me out on a date, _he silently thought to himself. _No, she couldn't be! We've just met!_

When everything fell silent once again, Elizabeth corrected herself by saying, "Oh! No! I didn't mean as a date. I should have been more specific, I'm sorry."

"No, I understand you did not mean that way. Erm… I would like that very much," Radek answered.

Elizabeth kindly smiled at Radek and considered silently to herself_,_ _I think this man is rather nice!_ "Alright, then! What day and time is best for you?"

"Today is Wednesday. So… would Friday at 5 o'clock be suitable," Zelenka inquired.

"Yes! That's perfect actually!"

"Great! I will see you then!"

"Goodnight, Zelenka!"

"Goodnight, Dr. Weir," Radek said as he entered his quarters. Once he had, he stopped for a bit to think, _S-she just called me Zelenka! And I just acknowledged her by her rank!_ Radek put his palm to his head and murmured aloud, "Jsem idiot!"


	3. Chapter 3

**_Chapter 3_**

Day 3

"I'm perfectly _fine_," a very flustered Colonel Sheppard insisted. "I can go on the recon mission, and I promise I will survive and won't reinjure myself. It's just recon, for god sakes!"

Elizabeth sighed and answered, "John, Dr. Beckett hasn't completely released you for duty yet. I can't take the risk. I'm sorry."

"The others you have assigned to go on the recon don't have the gene, Elizabeth. I do!"

"Rodney has the gene."

"That may be true, but he has more difficulty firing the drones," John retorted. Elizabeth knew John was right. Still, it was bad enough John's ribs were not entirely healed yet and sending him even on a recon could be of the upmost danger for him. If Sheppard ended up dying, then Atlantis would have lost a valuable asset. Yet, Liz also realized that Rodney didn't do so great with firing the drones, whereas John did it with immense accuracy, and a missed shot could result in everyone aboard that puddle jumper's death. Elizabeth most certainly couldn't have _that_.

"Alright, but take care of yourself. I can't risk you re-breaking your ribs because Carson will break _my_ ribs if he finds out I sent you on recon and you reinjured yourself," Elizabeth said.

Not even an hour later, however, Elizabeth received word from the puddle jumper used for the recon mission that John had an aratis bug on his neck, sucking the life out of him. And if that wasn't bad enough, the drive pods on the puddle jumper decide to stop operating when they are half way through the space gate. Rodney had deduced they had 38 minutes before the gate shuts down. At which point would, more than likely, result in their death.

Meanwhile, back on Atlantis, several people from the tech team were running simulations on how to get the pods to retract. Dr. Zelenka was among those who were doing so. Elizabeth had decided to see what progress, if any, he had made so far.

"Doctor Zelenka," Elizabeth said as she walked into the jumper.

Radek looked over his shoulder and when he realized it was Dr. Weir who greeted him, he said, "Apologies for not attending your briefing, Doctor Weir. There was no time."

As Elizabeth walked closer to Radek, she replied, "I don't want to slow you down but I need to know what you're working on so I can communicate it to the team on Jumper One."

"We are attempting to retract the, um, uh, the drive pod back into the fuselage from inside the rear compartment," Radek answered, not looking up from his main focus of attention which was the control grid.

"Anything yet?"

"Well, there is much redundancy in Ancient technology, making it dangerous for them to experiment in this way."

"So they might accidentally open the rear hatch or shut life support off entirely," Dr. Weir disappointingly inferred.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, which is why we are attempting to isolate the correct control pathway," Radek informed Elizabeth.

"Understood. What could I do to help," Dr. Weir pleasantly inquired.

"Stop talking, please," Radek answered as he apologetically smiled at her, and then returned his focus to the console.

Dr. Weir left the puddle jumper, smiling as she walked back to her office. _That smile! That sweet, gorgeous smile,_ she silently reflected to herself.

As soon as Elizabeth made her way to her office, she closed the door behind her and said aloud to herself, "Oh, no! Please don't tell me I'm falling for my co-worker…."

Events were beginning to turn around. At last, the problem with the puddle jumper had been solved and the team finally returned safely.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter 4_**

Day 4

Even though it wasn't Elizabeth's favorite game, she was quite excited about meeting up with Radek at 5pm at the mess hall to play some chess. In fact, Liz was so excited about playing a round of chess with Radek that she wondered as to why she was that enthused about it. _C'mon! Get a grip! You know very well what the reason is! You just enjoy Radek's company. You're even developing a little crush on him, aren't you, _Elizabeth quietly thought to herself. _No, no, no. I'm not! I just want to be friendly and introduce him to other people. Since the only way I currently know how to do that is by inviting him to a chess match, that's how I'm going to do it. That's all,_ she silently retorted back. Elizabeth had wondered what Radek would think if she were to tell him of her real feelings; if she were to just… blurt them out.

In the morning, Dr. Weir had been rummaging around the newly found or re-found, if you prefer, lost city of Atlantis. Elizabeth was looking through some of the contents of the main towers; perhaps some Ancient technology to give Rodney for experimentation or anything that would hint to the lives of the Ancestors. However, she didn't expect to find a small, glass flask. It had Ancient writing on it and from what Liz could make of it, it had said:

Narro Verium, Et Verium Compellu Vos.

Elizabeth had a knack for languages and although her Ancient was getting better, this phrase was a little more difficult to translate. _Narro is…"speak?" Yes, it means "speak." Verium is "truth." Et means "is," of course. Compellu means…"will proclaim?" No, that's not right. Um… compellu means "will speak", and vos is "you."_

"Speak the truth, and the truth shall speak to you," Elizabeth inquired aloud to herself.

"Rodney," Liz radioed over her ear piece.

"Yes, Dr. Weir," Rodney asked.

"Could you meet me in tower 5? I need help with Ancient translation."

"Will do. I'll be there in 2 minutes."

Rodney arrived at tower five in 2 minutes as he said, and found Dr. Weir staring at the glass flask, looking very pensive.

"You had requested to see me, Dr. Weir," Rodney asked.

"Yes, I did," Elizabeth responded, finally looking up from the flask. She then walked toward Rodney, handed him the flask and continued by inquiring, "Can you make out what this says?"

Rodney took the flask from Dr. Weir's hands and began reading the Ancient writing. "From what I can tell," Rodney began. "…it appears to be saying: "Speak the truth, and the truth shall speak to you."

"That's what I thought," Elizabeth said as she took the object from Rodney's grasp. "I wondered if my Ancient was rusty, but I guess not. Hmm… what is in here, I wonder."

"I don't know, but we could take it to Dr. Beckett for examination," suggested McKay.

"Perhaps that would be best."

"Alright."

Elizabeth had arrived at the infirmary to ask Beckett if he would run some tests on the substance in the flask. Carson had agreed to do so and two hours later:

"I can't seem to find anything abnormal with the Atlantian chemical," Carson told Elizabeth.

"Well, I think we should find out what it is. It can't be anything too dangerous, could it," Dr. Weir curiously responded.

"Aye, I suppose so. Even still, I wouldn't recommend for ye to drink any of it. God only knows what chemicals are in there."

"It could be of substantial importance to our advancement in technology, Carson. I insist I take a drop of it!"

"Dr. Weir," Carson began. "Believe me when I tell you: I can't take the risk of you compromising your own command. We need you here. However, if you are so adamant in discovering this substance's purpose, I would recommend we test it on someone else."

"Carson, I found the drug so I should take it. I was the one responsible for stumbling across the flask, and I would feel awful if the substance did turn out to be dangerous and the test subject died in result. No, it's my responsibility."

Dr. Beckett looked at the floor in remorse for what he was about to do and the horrendous results which could occur from it. "Alright, love," he replied. "I just hope this isn't dangerous." Elizabeth took the flask from Carson's hands, opened it and took a tiny swallow of the substance. Almost immediately, she passed out. Dr. Beckett checked Elizabeth's pulse and it appeared normal. So, he took her to the hospital bed, drew some of her blood for testing and made certain to check her vitals every so often. Whenever Carson did so, Elizabeth seemed to be under stable conditions.

Three hours later, Dr. Weir had finally woken up. Dr. Beckett heard Elizabeth stir and walked over to her bedside immediately.

"Oh," groaned Elizabeth. She tried to sit up, but found that difficult to do.

"You're alright. Just try not to move so much," Dr. Beckett kindly ordered as he put his hand on Elizabeth's shoulder to signify for her to lay back down. Dr. Weir laid herself down on the bed as Carson insisted.

"Have you found anything unusual with the serum? Please tell me you have because I want to get back to my own comfortable bed instead of these rotten things," asked Elizabeth.

"I'm sorry," Carson inquired, a little surprised at Dr. Weir's bluntness.

"Did I say that out loud? Oh, Carson! I'm sorry I didn't mean to say that!"

"No, it's alright. I've been nagging at the others on the med team to order some comfortable ones for a change. They still haven't listened to me though," Carson replied with a slight grin. Elizabeth returned his smile. "Later today, if you appear to be feeling better, I will release you," Carson continued.

"Alright. That would be nice," Dr. Weir answered.

Later that afternoon, Dr. Beckett had released Elizabeth as he said he would. There didn't appear to be anything exceptionally wrong with her: perhaps a major headache, but nothing a couple aspirins couldn't take care of. Dr. Weir felt much better just walking around and looking at all the other people around her. It surprised her how these people could live day by day, being stuck on Atlantis, knowing they probably won't have the option of seeing their families and friends again, and could still laugh.

Out of habit, Elizabeth looked at her watch. "Oh my God," she exclaimed. "It's 5:10! I told Radek I would meet him at 5! Damn!" Dr. Weir rushed to the mess hall. She entered through the doors and looked about to find Radek. Sure enough, he was sitting all by his lonesome with the chess board already setting out on the table.

"Sorry I'm so late," Elizabeth apologetically said as she took a seat across from Dr. Zelenka.

"No, no it's fine," answered Radek. "I understand you're a busy person. Besides, I heard you were in the infirmary today. I wasn't even sure if you were going to make it to our match tonight, but I came here just in case you would show up. You're feeling much better, I hope?"

"Yes! A lot better. Thank-you," Dr. Weir said. "And that's very sweet of you to do, Radek! There are not very many men who would do that."

"It's no trouble."

"And I've noticed your English is getting a lot better!"

"You think so? I've been practicing a lot," Radek shrugged. "I didn't think it was doing me much good though."

"Oh, yeah! Most definitely! I've noticed a _huge_ change," encouragingly replied Elizabeth. "Then again, I like it when men speak other languages besides English. I find that to be a very sexy trait."

Radek confusedly looked at Elizabeth. "I-I'm sorry," he inquired, blushing a little. Zelenka wasn't quite sure he heard Elizabeth correctly, but he indeed had.

Dr. Weir put her palm to her head in embarrassment and said, "Oh, God. I-I should…go. Sorry." Elizabeth raised herself from her seat and walked out of the mess hall. She was more humiliated than she ever remembered being. "Something's not right," Weir thought to herself aloud. "There's a reason I keep blurting out my thoughts."

"Dr. Beckett," Elizabeth radioed over her ear piece.

"Yes," Carson inquiringly replied.

"Are you busy at the moment by any chance," Dr. Weir asked.

"No, not really. Why? Is something the matter?"

"Yes, I believe so. Could you see me?"

"Sure, meet me in the infirmary," Dr. Beckett replied.

"Alright. I'll see you there," answered Elizabeth.

Three minutes later, Elizabeth entered the infirmary and discussed the problems she was having to Carson.

"The only thing I can suggest is I can run an MRI scan, but I did the same thing earlier and the results came back normal," Dr. Beckett informed Elizabeth.

"Do it anyway. Perhaps something will show up now that wouldn't have before," Elizabeth responded.

"Aye, that's what I was thinking."

After the MRI scan was completed, Carson sent Elizabeth back to the infirmary section they were at before.

"Well, something different most certainly has shown up," Dr. Beckett informed Elizabeth. "It appears as though your dopamine levels in your brain have increased significantly. I'm guessing this has to do with the substance you had taken earlier."

"It makes sense! There is probably some chemical in the substance that contains a hormone which causes the dopamine hormone to increase," a very frustrated Elizabeth inferred. "Therefore, it would force me to say things I am actually thinking."

"That's what I would have inferred, yes," Carson regretfully answered. "I'm not a neurologist, but I'm guessing your symptoms are similar to what turrets syndrome patience experience. The difference being you don't always say rude or socially inappropriate comments so much as you constantly say things you're thinking."

"Why do those damn Ancients always seem to invent the most obscure, ridiculous things," Dr. Weir inquired to herself out loud.

"I really don't know."

Elizabeth apologetically looked at Carson, "Just…never mind some of the things I'm saying. I don't mean to say them."

"I completely understand. I can't help but to wonder though: why did the Ancients create this drug," Dr. Beckett curiously asked.

"Hmm… well it could be they were just idiots who didn't know what the hell they were doing! Or it could be they used it to interrogate the wraith during the war," Elizabeth guessed.

"Which do you think it is?"

"Probably both."

Carson and Elizabeth chuckled a bit at the statement, and then Carson deduced, "Well… I suppose the next step is trying to get you better and make it so you're not accidentally blurting your thoughts anymore." Carson had further suggested to Dr. Weir that he could give her a medication used to treat patients with turrets…just until the effects of the Atlantian drug wore off.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Chapter 5_**

Day 5

The meds had worked and the drug finally wore off. Elizabeth kept herself in her quarters for the day because she was so embarrassed over everything she had said to certain people under her command while she was ill. Most of all, Dr. Weir was ashamed of what she said to Radek during their intended chess match. _Radek must have been extremely uncomfortable when I said what I did to him,_ she thought silently to herself. It felt good to do that again, at least! If anything to be relieved about, it was being able to keep her thoughts to herself for a change.

Elizabeth heard a knock at her door. _Oh, God! Visitors! As if I needed to see anyone right now,_ Dr. Weir quietly reflected.

"Come in," said Elizabeth as she sat up on the edge of her bed. The door opened, revealing none other than Dr. Radek Zelenka.

"Dr. Zelenka," a surprised Elizabeth said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm searching for somebody, actually," Radek answered with a grin as he sat down beside Elizabeth on her bed. "She's about ye tall, brown, curly hair…hmm….oh! And she's generally quite friendly and comical, but has been very distant lately. Have you seen her?"

Elizabeth couldn't help but to laugh at Radek's statement. It was an attempt to make her feel good. She knew that! It was obvious.

Radek smiled back in response and said, "There's the smile I've missed all day!"

"This is nice of you…really, but…," Elizabeth started.

"…but you are embarrassed of the things you said before, right," Zelenka inquired, finishing Liz's sentence for her. Elizabeth didn't look up at him, but she nodded her head "yes" in response. "There is no need for that," Radek continued. "It wasn't your fault."

"The thing is: even though it wasn't my fault, I still blurted out thoughts I was actually thinking. I hurt a lot of people, and even made some feel uncomfortable around me."

"Even so, it was a completely understandable circumstance. And…I don't know about anyone else, but I wasn't hurt or offended one bit when you told me what you were thinking."

"You weren't," a surprised Elizabeth responded.

Radek shook his head to say "no" and said, "No. I wasn't. I was just surprised, is all. I didn't know you thought of me that way."

Elizabeth slightly grinned at Radek's answer. "You are…attractive, but I'm not certain we should have a relationship. I think I have already put doubt into the other's minds as it is. I don't want to throw whatever little respect they have for me out the window."

"I understand entirely."

For a moment, things fell silent between them. Elizabeth really did like Radek in that way, but what she told him was also true. _In any case, would it be too soon to ask him out on a date,_ she quietly pondered.

"Well, I should get back to the tech lab," Zelenka announced as he raised himself from the bed. "If I'm gone too long, Rodney could become upset with me… even if I'm not really away for a long time."

"A-Alright," Elizabeth responded.

Radek was about to open the door when Elizabeth said, "Wait!" Radek turned around as Elizabeth continued by saying, "Thank-you for everything, Radek. I'm glad to call you a friend!"

Zelenka grinned and replied, "It's no trouble at all!"

"I still owe you a chess match, don't I," a good-humored Elizabeth inquired.

"Why, yes! I believe you do!"

"How about tomorrow at 5," asked Elizabeth.

"That will be fine," Radek answered with a smile.

"Alright, then. Five it is! I'll catch you later, Radek."

"Until later, then." Radek left Elizabeth's dorm and walked back to the lab. He couldn't stop thinking about her smile. Zelenka couldn't deny he had feelings for Elizabeth, but he respected her decision for them not to date all the same. In fact, he would have done the same thing if he was in her position. They were friends, however, and that was good enough for now. Perhaps later, if they both agreed to it, they would become more. Right now, they both just needed a friend.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth was laying down on her bed, thinking about Radek. He was always so kind to her. Liz remembered when she first met him, and she never would have guessed they would become as good of friends as they turned out to be. _Hmm…_ _narro verium, et verium compellu vos,_ Elizabeth silently reflected to herself. _Perhaps… speaking one's mind isn't so bad after all!_

EL FIN!


End file.
